Nearly 80 percent of commercial losses caused by the 2004 earthquake and tsunami disaster in Aceh were suffered by the private sector, mostly retailers and traders.
Many of the surviving entrepreneurs, however, did not wait long before they started taking part in rebuilding a devastated society in the only way they knew how, by doing business.
"Two days after the tsunami, I already had fences up around my biggest but most badly damaged store. And a few days later, me and my employees were selling everyday necessities to the people and NGOs at one of my other stores," said Abubakar Usman, the owner of the biggest retail chain in Aceh, Pante Pirak.
Abubakar is one of those entrepreneurs who started once again from scratch, and ended up becoming a hero. He first entered the retail sector in 1970 selling sundries on three small, rickety tables in a street-hawker complex.
He went on building up his business in the traditional way until he decided to stir things up in 1989 by borrowing money from a bank to rent a place and turn it into a relatively modern convenience store with a cash register -- a rarity in Aceh back in those days.
After that, his business expanded rapidly, both in terms of size and earnings, thus allowing him to raise fresh loans and open more stores.
By 1997, he employed 500 people in four stores, with one of them, a four-story complex, being inaugurated by the then Aceh governor, Samsudin Mahmud.
"Of course, the business had its ups and downs as the region back then was mired in conflict between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the national military (TNI)," he said.
When the earthquake and tsunami struck, all of Abubakar's stores collapsed, save for one. "As you know, the stores can collapse, but the debts don't," he slightly joked.
Unlike many other people in Aceh at the time of the disaster, Abubakar received no help whatsoever -- whether from government institutions, business associations or even NGOs. It was his business colleagues, mainly his suppliers, who helped get him back on his feet again so that he could repay his debts and rebuild his business empire.
"I did seek assistance from an international financial firm that said it was in Aceh to help businesses recover from the tsunami, but they didn't even call back. I don't like to beg for help anyway, I can make it on my own," he said with conviction.
And make it was exactly what he did. Currently, Pante Pirak operates eight stores, and is still the biggest retail chain in the westernmost part of the archipelago. Not satisfied with the phenomenal growth of Pante Pirak, Abubakar has expanded his empire by opening numerous restaurants, beauty parlors and other businesses that now have total assets estimated roughly at more than Rp 50 billion.
There is no doubt that the growth of Abubakar's business has been greatly helped by the massive spending on rehabilitation and reconstruction projects, which have helped to resurrect the province's economy.
Dahlan Sulaiman, the owner of one of the biggest cement suppliers in the region, PT Lhoknga Sarana Andalas, is one of those who have directly benefited from the Aceh Reconstruction Fund, which will amount to about Rp 60 trillion by the end of 2009.
Only a month after the loss of his business and his one and only son to the tsunami, he was once again delivering cement and other construction material in response to the immediate need for the rehabilitation of Aceh's infrastructure.
"At my age, I should be retired, especially after the death of my only son. But recently, new opportunities have sprung up and I've been unable to resist the call to expand my business," he said.
At 62, Dahlan still serves as an advisor on economic affairs, a position he has held since 2002, and is also as the chairman of the Aceh branch of the Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO).
Dahlan recently branched out by setting up a travel agency, PT Indomata Wisata, as well as a number of small industries.
Home industries have also been flourishing in Aceh since the disaster. Sugianto, the owner of the now-famous Rencong Aceh handycrafts store, got his first big break when newly arrived overseas NGO workers bought up all of his stock only a few days after the tsunami.
"One overseas worker bought Rp 300 million worth of handycrafts," he said.
Now that things are returning to normal, Sugianto still has a turnover of about Rp 200 million to Rp 300 million per month, with about 20 percent of this ending up in his pocket as net profits. The great thing about his business is that Sugianto has never had to borrow money. And he is not planning to do so any time soon, especially with current high bank lending rates.
"I can get by doing my business here without loans," he said with sincerity.
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